VW is reportedly open to talking with King and the UAW because of the existence of so-called "work councils" at VW's plants in Germany, in which representatives from the factory workers collaborate with plant management on compensation, benefits and work rules. VW sees potential value in the creation of a work council at the Chattanooga plant to have a closer pulse on worker morale and sentiments.However, VW board member Horst Neumann, who oversees human resources matters for the company, stressed that the company was not obliged to unionize the plant, since Tennessee is a right-to-work state, and said he was unsure what King's motivations were in this process, if the UAW was truly interested in a work council arrangement or simply wanted to get its foot in the door for traditional full union representation. However, U.S. labor law requires that a union be involved in the formation of any sort of management/employee labor board.

The United Auto Workers has had conversations and has established ties with Germany's IG Metall, the labor union which represents the majority of VW's factory work force in Germany.Source: Automotive News (subscription required)

Just form their own local if they want collective bargaining to ensure fair wages, conditions and benefits. There is no law that says they have to affiliate with the UAW. Keep the UAW out all they want in more dues.

@Ron Chennai So what model VW do you drive, that has such poor reliability?

We've had several VWs and we currently own one, with no reliability issues. We know many people with VWs, and nobody has had reliability issues. If you are going to talk about about a "dismal reliability record", why not come up with some data.

Regarding the article, accepting the UAW into the Chattanooga plant would be a huge mistake for VW of America. Look at the success of other automotive plants around the south. What do they all have in common?

Sure sounds like it. Some people buy certain vehicles BECAUSE there are no unions, just like people patronize Walmart because their prices are low and have no unions. I read the UAW did infiltrate the Mitsubishi arrangement with Chrysler years ago, but other than that, foreign auto companies have escaped their grasp. It is no coincidence that most Korean/Japanese manufacturers in the U.S. are in right-to-work states.